Children leave direct provision behind to make waves sailing

Hayat Mehood getting to grips with sailing at the Oysterhaven Activity Centre. Picture: John Allen

Grinning broadly as the boom flies over her ducking head, Hayat Mehood suddenly turns her boat through the wind, successfully shifting direction.

She is one of 16 children living in direct provision in Cork who learned to sail at Oysterhaven this summer through non-profit organisation SafeHaven, which aims to equip disadvantaged children with new skills that could change the course of their lives.

The ultimate aim is to train these children to become instructors, giving them a chance to work as soon as they leave the system.

Hayat, who turned 13 in late July, now dreams of "trying every watersport" and teaching people how to sail, in addition to her long-term goal of becoming a dentist. 

She has been living in direct provision for the last four-and-a-half years, first in Dublin and now in Cork City, after her family fled violence in South Africa.

She joined children, aged 10-13, from Togo, Zimbabwe, Pakistan, and Nigeria who also left the confines of direct provision for the open water at Oysterhaven. 

At the start of the course, when asked how happy she was on a scale of one to ten, she said "four". On leaving, that score had soared to "more than ten".

"I loved it and I appreciate it so much," said Hayat. "I loved the company, the movement, the boat, the water — everything. I loved tacking [turning the boat] and capsizing the most!"

Romeo Sounou taking part in the SafeHaven initiative at Oysterhaven. Picture: John Allen

Shauna Fallon, who works in refugee law and co-founded SafeHaven, said this is the first year of the programme, which she hopes to continue so that children such as Hayat can ultimately get work teaching sailing. 

Shauna was inspired to start SafeHaven thanks to a subsidised programme, through Sligo County Council, that she was invited on herself as a child, which taught her to sail age 11.

"I was from a very rural community where no one learned to sail," she said. 

"I loved it and I became a sailing instructor at 17. That took me all around the world, crossing the Atlantic and visiting places like Bermuda. 

"It opened up so many opportunities for me which I would not have had without a subsidised project like this. 

"It showed me that you can give a lifeline to a kid which can completely change their life.

"The kind of feedback we get from kids is 'this is the best thing I've ever done in my life'.  

Children in direct provision have not had a great time so it's not really surprising that they are so blown away by this.

"Hayat was a real star, she took to it straight away. She is one of the students we want to train to be a future instructor." 

Shauna was working in immigration law in London when she developed an interest in social integration.

She was visiting a Buddhist monastery in the UK in 2014 where she met the Oysterhaven activity centre's owners when a family member was being ordained as a Buddhist monk. 

They struck up a friendship and she later asked if they could run an integration project for youths onboard their sail training vessel, the Spirit of Oysterhaven, with 50% Irish and 50% new arrivals to the country. 

"They were hugely supportive," said Shauna. "This whole project would not have happened without their support that very first year when we didn't have two pennies to rub together and it was just an idea. 

"Their yacht, the Spirit of Oysterhaven, was the vessel we had our first voyage on. 

"They said, 'We'll make this happen no matter what'.

"So it's nice to go back to them now with a new project. They're a very good centre and they have a unique instructor-training panel that teenagers can join. They go sailing at weekends throughout the year so there's that opportunity for kids who don't own a boat or come from a wealthy background to get their skills up to a level where they can become an instructor." 

Shauna said some of the children on SafeHaven's courses this summer were first introduced to watersports by another Cork charity, Welcome Wave, which teaches children in direct provision to surf.

Welcome Wave was founded by Sara and Sam Hunt, after the death of their baby daughter Zoey in March 2018.

The couple wanted to help other children in memory of their daughter by sharing their love of the ocean and surfing with them. 

They plan to run surf courses from Cork beaches this September for children in direct provision. 

"It's such a joy to do because it's making kids happy," said Shauna.

All the logistics and scrambling around for money is worth it when you see the big, happy smiles on kids' faces.

To donate or learn more, go to www.safehavenireland.com or donate to Welcome Wave at https://ie.gofundme.com/f/5r8kmp4.